Kalila wins opening game in IBL series four

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

After losing twice in earlier games, Kalila of Jakarta won 70- 61 over Angsapura Sania of Medan in the opening game of the Indonesian Basketball League's fourth series at Merpati Sports Hall here on Saturday.

Kalila easily took a 34-21 lead after the first two quarters counting on fast breaks led by Kashmeer and Kelly Purwanto.

Realizing they could not match Kalila's quick runners, Angsapura players tried to slow down the rhythm of play and successfully closed the gap to 44-43 by the end of the third quarter.

Angsapura had several chances to take the lead later on in the fourth but failed to do so, with Marcello and Donald P Marpaung being frustrated under the net.

Kalila pulled away to 62-55 before ending the game 70-61.

"Our players made a good start but later on they began to tire, particularly in the third quarter, thus our opponents could close the gap to only a single-point deficit," Kalila manager Zainul Hilal said after the game.

Angsapura coach Freddy M. Gorrey said his players did not play to their strengths against Kalila.

"We knew the Kalila players would create many fast breaks, but our players were to blame for not stopping them," he said.

"Seventy percent of Kalila points came from fast breaks," he said.

With the victory, Kalila now has one win and two losses. In earlier series, Kalila lost 71-59 to CLS Good Day and 82-58 to Satria Muda Britama.

For Angsapura, the last game was its fourth defeat after it lost to Satria Muda Britama 71-43, IM Panasonic 63-55, and Panasia Garuda 59-45 in earlier series. The club won twice against CLS Good Day 66-59 and Citra Satria 68-48.

In the other match on Saturday, Avian Bimasakti Malang defeated Citra Satria Jakarta 68-62.

The IBL, which was introduced only in 2003, has 10 participating teams this year's season incorporating 11 series in 15 major cities.

Four teams are also competing in Lampung. Defending champion Satria Muda defeated Bhinneka Sritex 67-55 and Panasia Garuda chalked up a 57-55 victory over CLS Surabaya.

The the other two Hewlett Packard Aspac and IM Panasonic Telkomsel have their turn of resting.